


Ice Breaking Chapter

by WhenTheSeabearsCry



Category: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 07:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7609171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenTheSeabearsCry/pseuds/WhenTheSeabearsCry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thanks to some otherwise inconvenient circumstances, Keiichi finds himself able to spend some time alone with Mion. Will Mion be able to work up the courage to confess her feelings for him? Will Keiichi's cluelessness ruin the mood? And how would he react to finding out his best friend likes him as more than a friend, anyway?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ice Breaking Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> This is currently only the first short chapter in what will probably only be a three-chapter fic for a tragically underrepresented ship. It is my first work in this fandom and also the first serious fic I've written in years. Only content warnings are for Keiichi and Mion being, well, Keiichi and Mion (dirty jokes, but nothing terribly explicit).

To Keiichi, there were few fates worse than coming home to a house without food in it. And today, he came home to his worst nightmare. Apparently, while he'd been at school, his father had found out about an important meeting with one of his clients, and his parents had been forced to leave with very little notice. In fact, they had apparently only had time to scrawl a hurried note, pin it to the refrigerator, and be on their way. The house wasn't entirely devoid of food, of course; the refrigerator had some varied ingredients in it that could probably make a meal on their own, but none of it was anything that Keiichi felt comfortable trying to cook by himself. To make matters worse, he had long since finished off the last of his trusty emergency rations, the ginger pork ramen that he loved so much.

With a dreary sigh of resignation, he closed the refrigerator door and stood upright, wondering what he was going to do. He could try making something on his own, but he had an oddly distinct feeling that he would probably end up starting a fire that burned down his house or something along those lines. Thankfully, he still had a couple of hours before it was dinner time, but it would probably take him that long just to figure out what he was going to do. 

"Ah, what a pain," he muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his head. His festival of self-pitying had only just started, however, when he heard the phone ringing. He wondered to himself who would be calling right now, so soon after school. It was definitely too soon for his parents to be in Tokyo, but perhaps they were checking in from a pay phone somewhere else. He answered the phone after the second ring, holding the receiver loosely to his ear. "Hello, this is Maebara," he answered, not sure whose voice he should expect to hear from the other end.

A familiar voice greeted him on the line, but certainly not one he might have expected. "It's Mion," that voice proclaimed, predictably full of her usual energy. "I'm not interrupting your special alone time, am I?"

"You just missed it," he stated sardonically, turning around and putting the receiver between his head and shoulder so that he could fold his arms over his chest and lean against the wall. "If you'd called me a minute ago, the only thing you'd be hearing is heavy breathing and groaning." It was a little bit of pointless, gratuitously perverted banter, which was exactly what could be expected between the two of them. Assuming she didn't feel like harping on the subject, he figured she'd get down to business soon enough... but for the Magician of Words, Maebara Keiichi, he welcomed any chance to match wits with such an opponent, no matter how crude their jokes could get.

"I forgot to tell everyone that I picked up a foreign movie over the weekend," she stated, confirming his prediction. "But Grandma says I need to get out of the house, so I was gonna see if we could go watch it at Rena's. Are you interested?"

Immediately, he felt as if he had just heard a chorus of angels singing in unison. If they all went over to Rena's house tonight, then he wouldn't have to worry about cooking dinner. If Rena's special lunches were an exquisite treat, then surely a home-cooked dinner would be literally divine. And he'd be spending time with his two best friends, which was a very significant bonus. They'd talk, enjoy Rena's delicious cooking, watch the movie, and possibly even play a thrilling one-on-one-on-one punishment game. That sounded like exactly what he needed, and he certainly knew Mion and Rena would enjoy it, too.

"Why do we need to watch it at Rena's house?" he asked curiously. Surely, the Sonozaki estate would be a better fit... but almost immediately, he realized that there could be some very unspeakable answers to that question. It was so easy for him to forget all about Mion's family's connections.

"Well, my grandma's having drinks with the village chief," she answered, and he let out a silent sigh of relief. At least it was nothing that had to do with the Sonozaki organization.

"Just as long as it's not some snooty foreign film," he remarked casually, knowing fully well that Mion's fondness for Western things didn't go quite that far.

"Well, it's foreign, but I think it's got something for everyone," Mion assured him, her devious tone betraying the fact that she was likely smirking. "It's a sci-fi movie, so Kei-chan can just watch the special effects while Rena admires the cute aliens. This old man will just be enjoying the story!"

He gripped the telephone received tightly, his eyes going wide.

"Wait, s-sci-fi?!? I-I-It's not the last episode of that trilogy, is it?!? That still hasn't even left theaters in the West yet!"

Mion's snicker was so familiar to him that it was almost comforting. "Kei-chan, you should know by now that the Sonozaki family doesn't have a problem getting its hands on certain things, right~?"

"Yeah, you don't need to brag about how loaded your family is all the time," he countered, rolling his eyes. "So, when should I head over to Rena's?"

"I haven't asked her yet, but I'll call you back after I talk to her," she assured him. "Okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," he said, smiling. "I'll talk to you then."

"Later, Kei-chan."

He was still smiling by the time he hanged up the phone. He didn't really need an excuse to want to spend time with Mion or Rena, but he'd take one. Figuring that he might as well, he made his way up the stairs to his bedroom to change out of his school clothes and into something more comfortable.

Just as he was finishing up, however, he heard the phone ring again. Looking over to the corded phone sitting on his desk, he quickly deduced that it was likely Mion calling to confirm their plans.

"Hello, this is Maebara," he answered, expecting to hear that familiar voice again.

"It's Mion, Kei-chan," she responded, though her voice sounded just a little less upbeat than usual. "Sorry, it seems Rena is having dinner with her dad tonight. It's his birthday, so I guess we're not gonna see the movie after all."

"Oh, that's disappointing," he responded, deflating a bit. He'd forgotten all about dinner... instead, he was excited to see the movie with his friends. But then, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, why don't we watch it at my place instead? I know it's just gonna be the two of us, but that's okay, right?"

Suddenly, he swore he could hear something on the other end of the line, like Mion had stopped breathing without warning. Maybe that sounded too much like something inappropriate, he realized. It was one thing for them to make blatantly perverted jokes to one another, but it was another thing to give the impression that they had any basis in reality.

So, quickly, he continued. "We can watch it with Rena when she's free later, then threaten to spoil it for her."

Much to his relief, she answered, though her voice trembled at first. "I-I guess that'd be alright," she said, obviously forcing some confidence and trying to make it sound like she was doing him a favor. "Your mom doesn't mind if I come over for dinner, does she?"

His mom wouldn't mind. They don't usually have guests, but Mion's his best friend alongside Rena, and his parents never really met Mion. Or any of the other club members, for that matter. He was about to assure her it'd be fine when the circumstances dawned on him... he had been so excited at the idea of spending time with her that he simply forgot.

"Oh, yeah, that's a problem," he realized out loud, slumping down into a sitting position against the wall. "I forgot that my parents went out of town, and they didn't have time to cook dinner for me."

"Inviting a girl over while your parents aren't home? If I didn't know you any better, Kei-chan, I'd think you were planning something mischievous," she teased. At least, it sounded like she was trying to tease him. For some reason, though, it sounded a little forced.

"It's not like I'm throwing wild parties while they're gone," he insisted. "Still, one of us would have to cook food, and I'm not exactly a skilled chef."

"...Well, this old man knows his way around a kitchen."

For a second, Keiichi felt like the entire universe had just shattered, upended itself, and then shattered again. Was Mion offering to cook? He wasn't sure if he should be excited or terrified.

"Really? You don't mind?" he asked, his voice tinged with disbelief. Immediately, he felt a little guilty for it.

"I-It's not like I cook all the time, but it sounds to me like you'll waste away if I don't! And since you're my successor as club president and class representative, I guess it's my duty to take care of you."

His lips curled into a mischievous smile, and he let out a quiet chuckle despite himself. There was something enjoyable about listening to Mion stammer. "Haha... yeah, I guess you're right. And we can watch the movie after we're done."

"Alright. Then... want me to head over now, Kei-chan?" Mion confirmed, her voice a little quieter than he was used to.

"Yeah, I should be done with round two by the time you're here," he joked, smirking to himself.

"Ah, to be young again... that's right, get it out of your system before you start misbehaving!" she scolded playfully, a little bit of her trademark confidence returning. "I'll see you soon, Kei-chan."

"Bye, Mion."

And now, he was smiling as he placed the phone back on the hook for a second time. It was pretty rare that he got to spend some time with just Mion, and while it wouldn't be the same without Rena, it still was pretty exciting.

He just hoped she wouldn't get overwhelmed trying to cook for him. It seemed kind of strange, actually. Mion, cooking a meal for him... and come to think of it, she'd sounded pretty nervous about it, too.

Whatever the case was, though, he felt something unusual and new. A girl was coming over to his house. That wasn't such a big deal, he told himself. All of his friends are girls, so if he's going to have a friend over, that means it's going to be a girl. Mion was probably just nervous about cooking since she doesn't do a lot of it, he figured.

...So why was he feeling nervous, too?


End file.
